Belarus: Jacek Protasiewicz

In spite of the conduct of president Lukashenko’s regime, the EU must continue to reach out to the Belarusian people, writes Jacek Protasiewicz.

A year ago Belarusian authorities erroneously chose to return to their old practices of brutal repression and harassment of their own people and civil society. The numerous political arrests, unjustified sentences, violent crackdown on demonstrations and use of force by militia, moral and physical torture in prison, actions against human rights defenders could not have been ignored by the international community and thus, led to freezing the relations between Belarus and the western world.

Due to its outdated Soviet style, the Belarusian economy faced the worst financial and economic crisis in 17 years of independence. During 2011, one could observe an almost 300 per cent devaluation of the national currency, hyper-inflation, a substantial decline in household incomes, and real economy and financial losses. As the Belarusian economy is not liberalised, president Alexander Lukashenko had to look for loans and sell the assets of state-owned companies to neighbouring Russia. Facing such a tough situation and ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections, it became even harder for Lukashenko to maintain social benefits.

Amid such harsh economic conditions, the bleak economic forecasts, the diplomatic isolation, sanctions and suspension of international financial assistance, Lukashenko found himself in complete isolation from the western world. And, at the expense of his own people, it has been his own conscious choice. The human rights situation in Belarus has never been worse and it seems Lukashenko again has decided to use political prisoners as a bargaining chip in his trade-off in getting extra financial benefits from the EU.

In such a democratically poor situation, the EU cannot do anything but hold its position. It is clear that the possibility for EU-Belarus relations to warm up still remains on the table. However, it is strictly conditional upon fulfilment by Belarusian authorities of EU basic requirements. These include the unconditional release of all political prisoners, full rehabilitation of their civil rights and health conditions, putting an end to all human rights violations, repressions, and conducting free and fair general elections this year recognised by international institutions.

The EU has never turned its back on the Belarusian people. On the contrary, the EU’s primary priority in its policies towards Belarus has been, first and foremost, to let Belarusian people benefit fully from all the possibilities offered to them by the EU. While the EU has considerably increased its financial assistance to civil society in Belarus, one of the major benefits the EU offered was to negotiate and sign a visa facilitation agreement. Unfortunately, Belarusian authorities have not responded positively to that offer and created even more obstacles in the way of common people to enjoy their basic rights and use the opportunities to improve their wellbeing.

In spite of all this, the EU should continue reaching out to the Belarusian people by increasing visibility on the ground and developing much broader knowledge of Belarusian civil society in order to be able to develop flexible mechanisms for a fruitful mutual dialogue and cooperation. More importantly, the EU needs to develop an effective human rights strategy, particularly focused on providing efficient assistance to those repressed and their families, independent NGOs and the mass media. It also should be designed so flexibly as to be able to cover the whole spectrum of civil society activities, taking into account the conditions Belarusian civil society operates in.

There are many challenges ahead of us. But, any positive change in Belarus will be the greatest reward for all efforts the EU invests in such a close and valuable neighbour.

Jacek Protasiewicz is chair of parliament's delegation for relations with Belarus